Just Dessert
by Luvdarain5
Summary: A 'slice of life' fic. Darien's run to the grocery store causes him to encounter all the familiar couples but not the one person he is looking for! Plz R&R. Cute n Funny!


Just Dessert

By Luvdarain5

Disclaimer-Ok, these things are boring, so let me just say I don't own Sailor Moon and be done with it!

xxxxxxx

"Oh man, Bunny is going to kill me!" Darien worried to himself, driving faster than was allowed by law before screeching to a halt in the parking lot of the local supermarket. He had stepped out to run a few errands, which had wound up taking him longer than he anticipated.

Originally he had only ventured out to pick up the carton of Cherry and Vanilla ice cream she had requested. He had hastily volunteered when she told him she was heading out to pick up some Brier's and maybe a few other things. Remembering how the last shopping trip had ended Darien vowed to do the shopping for them from now on.

But his quick errand had turned into two, then four and before he knew it he had been gone for an hour and a half. He jumped out of his sleek black convertible, slamming the door and rushing up to the dual sliding doors of the local grocer. He pulled himself to a halt to avoid plowing down an elderly couple just ahead of him, all the while thinking dark thoughts about how ridiculously slow they were moving.

"Come on, come on" He muttered, trying to hurry them along. 'There oughta be a law…' he thought.

The older man couldn't understand what Darien was saying but knew he was being rushed. "Punk" He said under his breath.

Feeling the air conditioning embrace him as he walked in, Darien stood for a moment trying to think where the frozen food section was. He was quickly distracted by the small Java Joe corner. A faux café set up for those grocery shoppers who had to have cup of coffee every half hour or they would implode, he thought disgustedly. Actually, people like himself, he amended, heading in the direction of the counter.

He paid for his 'Jiant Joe' cup and stood for a moment inhaling the sweet fragrance of the most wonderful creation on God's green earth. Suddenly he noticed a well-dressed gentleman in the corner, his face obscured by a newspaper but somehow familiar to him. He approached the seated figure, intending to subtely glance over when he passed by to see where he knew him from, when the man lowered the paper to turn the page and the two immediately recognized one another.

"Darien" Greeted the smooth voice of Jadeite, laying down the paper and raising a hang in greeting.

"Hey Jade, what are you doing here?" He responded, shaking his hand and seating himself across from his good friend.

"Rei wanted to pick up some things for dinner, but apparently I was getting in the way, so I've been relegated to a 'time out' while she shops." He said with a smirk.

"Nice" Darien approved, knowing it was entirely intentional. There were some tricks men employed just to get out of tiresome duties. Tricks that were better not shared with their spouses.

At that moment Rei approached the two men, her hand basket full of goodies for a sumptuous Italian dinner, complete with a loaf of garlic bread. She nodded at Darien and turned to her husband, holding out her hand.

Jade looked warily up at her, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me, give me your wallet." She instructed, moving her palm closer.

"Darling," He began, a little put out. "We both got paid yesterday."

"Yes but you got paid more, so stop being childish and either give me your wallet or give me a raise." She demanded, beginning to loose her temper.

Jadeite handed over his wallet, embarrassed to be shown for the henpecked husband he was in front of his former/future Prince. He turned back to his friend with a defiant look, expecting ridicule.

Darien cleared his throat, then grinned. "Guess that's what happens when you marry your secretary." He said sarcastically, but immediately gulped back any further comments when Rei turned sharply on her heel and marched back in their direction.

"By the way" She said frostily, "It's one thing for _him_ to pull these little pranks to get out of shopping, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

"…what?" He asked, confused.

"She's right Darien" Jadeite said, quickly turning on him in order to get back in Rei's good graces. "You shouldn't let that delicate creature be out by herself, how is she going to get all those bags home and up the stairs, I'd like to know?"

When he continued to look clueless, Rei softened. "Guess you don't know that she's here shopping, do you?"

"Bunny's here?" He asked, feeling an itchy twitch squarely between his shoulder blades as sweat began to bead there.

"Yes, I just saw _Serena_" Rei never cared for Darien's nickname for her friend. "She-"

Surging up, Darien cut her off. "I've got to find her," He commanded, "Which way did she go?"

Feeling a thrill at the aura of command Darien was suddenly exuding Rei demurely pointed towards the bread aisle, then continued to watch as he strode forcefully in that direction.

"Down girl" Her husband murmured, sliding an arm around her waist and leaning in to speak softly in her ear. "He's taken, and so are you."

Rei craned her neck back to look up at him. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." She responded sweetly, lifting up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his chin. "Come on, let's hit the checkout and go home. I'm starving"

xoxoxo

Darien turned down the bread aisle, not seeing his wife among the patrons shopping. At the end of the aisle however, he was startled when a child, perhaps two years old quickly ran past, carrying a cereal box aloft and squealing.

A moment later another figure passed by, what appeared to be a tall man hunched over, arms outstretched chasing after the child. Darien frowned…that looked like…the child ran by again, this time in the opposite direction yelling his head off. Yup, he knew that little terror.

"Al, please come to daddy!" Begged a harassed voice and Darien realized it was indeed who he had suspected it to be. He laughed as he watched Zoi streaking past, struggling to catch up with his young son. Then he frowned. Was this what awaited him when his time came? He felt that bead of sweat from earlier begin a slow journey down his back, despite the cool air gushing from the overhead vent.

He moved stealthily, positioning himself behind the end cap and waited, fully prepared when the boy ran past for the third time. Reaching out he scooped up the little tyke, becoming showered with Cheerios as they boy shook his cereal box in excitement. "Da!" The boy shouted in glee.

"Hey!" Declared one very angry father, until he realized who had his child.

"Darien!" He sighed with relief, stopping to catch his breath. "Thanks for grabbing him!" Darien grinned, holding the boy close. "Hey Al, how's it going buddy?" Little Albert shook the box, offering it to his captor graciously.

"Da!" Said the boy again, clapping his hands giddily. Darien reached in and grabbed a couple cheerio's making gobbling noises as he popped them in his mouth, causing the little boy to jostle excitedly.

"So where's Amy?" Darien asked, handing Albert back to his father, ignoring the child's protests. Zoi frowned; slightly hurt that Al seemed to prefer Darien to him. "She's around the corner." He said, trying to tickle his son's tummy to get him to laugh. Al pushed his hands away, reaching for Darien to hold him again. "Here she is," He said sulkily, as she rounded the aisle and met them head on, almost running them over with her cart.

"Oh, there you are!" She said, coming to a halt, not realizing how close she had been to clobbering them all. She reached out to take her son from her husband and popped him back in the child safety seat, buckling the seat belt. "Now, the next time I say 'just leave him in the cart', lets just leave him, ok?" She addressed Zoi gently, not blaming him. After all he was a man, he couldn't be expected to know any better.

Zoi nodded whole-hearted agreement and resumed his former spot behind the handlebar of the cart. He realized it was safest just to push the thing and keep the baby entertained, after all that was all that was required of him on these excursions. Better to be bored than chasing his prodigy around the entire store.

"Da!" His son said, patting him on the chest, as though to comfort him, and Zoi brightened. He pulled out his keys, handing them over to the child's noisy delight.

"Hey, have either of you seen Bunny?" Darien suddenly remembered, after watching the little one for a moment. "I just ran into Rei and Jade who said they saw her here."

"Oh, then the two of you didn't arrive together." Amy surmised, not bothering to ask stupid questions, instead making her own deductions. "Well I did see her in the dairy aisle, I believe."

"By the way, you have my sympathy buddy, I remember those days." Zoi said kindly.

"Ok, that's it, I have to find her now! See you two-er three Sunday night!" The group met regularly for meals at each other's homes, and it was the Chiba's turn to host this coming weekend.

"Hoo boy, do I feel sorry for him." Zoi commented to his wife as they began strolling down another lane.

"Why do you say that?" She asked distractedly, consulting her grocery list.

"Didn't you see Serena's shopping cart?" He asked, amazed that he even had to clarify.

"I…of course I did" She said, not admitting she wasn't sure what she was supposed to have noticed.

Her husband hid his amusement. His wife was incredibly intelligent, to be sure, but she often didn't notice the most mundane things. She turned her attention to the baby food display in front of her, mumbling to herself as she poured over seemingly identical jars of mashed veggies, trying to decide which had the better nutritional content for a genius on the rise.

Zoi turned indulgently back to his son, then hastily grabbed the keys when he realized that his boy was not holding them anymore, but levitating them instead. "Cut that out" He whispered worriedly to his giggling child, looking around to see if there were any witnesses. A familiar gray haired couple were turning their cart around in the opposite direction, moving away as fast as two old people could move. He sighed. "Amy, he's doing it again."

"Hmm…?" She mumbled distractedly. "Doing what?"

xoxoxoxo

Meanwhile Darien stood looking at the directory overhead, trying to locate the dairy area. He realized it was at the far left corner of the market, and swiftly began moving through the milling shoppers, ignoring an attractive brunette who was eyeing him seductively. He reached the far corner of the store and turned, beginning down the aisle way when he stopped, recognizing two figures at the other end.

Was _everyone_ he knew shopping for groceries today, he wondered disgustedly? Of course, it wasn't entirely unbelievable that they would all run into each other. They all lived in the same neighborhood, and Saturday _was_ a common shopping day. Still, he thought it was a _little_ weird….

As he neared, he saw his favorite duo had their heads together apparently in conference over what seemed to be something of grave importance. But as they were in the dairy corner, how serious could it be?

Mal was dressed in black wide legged sweatpants with a thin white stripe down each side, cushioned Nike slippers over white socks and a white t-shirt stretched tight over bulging muscles. Mina stood next to him, wearing her favorite brief red 'gym' shorts, and a small faded t-shirt that suggested they 'just do it', complete with an expensive pair of running shoes.

One might hazard a guess that the two had just come from working out except that the two _always_ dressed this way when they weren't at their day jobs. They had their own training room at their townhouse and still held memberships to Bally's. The couple were always on some new macrobiotic diet, and their kitchen was littered with cans of 'miracle' powdery substances, which forewarned guests never to ask for something to drink.

The two were still standing close, pouring over the contents of a packet of...cheese? The hand basket hung between them, Mal so wrapped up in what he was doing that his grip was slipping imperceptibly.

Darien couldn't resist, he _had_ to take a moment to mess with the two. Sneaking up, which wasn't hard since they were so absorbed, he suddenly clapped his hands down hard on their shoulders declaring loudly; "Wow, is that two percent cheese?"

Mal jumped, dropping the plastic basket with a loud clatter, Mina backed up in alarm, emitting a very sissy squeal for someone who was supposed to be the head of the senshi (retired for now). Surrounding shoppers looked on, shaking their heads and laughing.

"Darien!" Mina retaliated angrily punching him on his chest, causing him to wince in pain. She was a lot stronger than her dainty appearance let on.

Mal laughed, clapping his friend's shoulder as the two exchanged identical grins. They enjoyed pranking each other often.

"Nice job man!" He said, enfolding Darien's hand in his in that macho greeting close male friends tended to do.

"Sorry Mina, I couldn't resist." Darien said, but hearing the mirth in his voice he knew his apology lacked sincerity. He leaned in to peck her cheek just for good measure.

She stood, hands on her hips in a haughty pose for a moment, then bent to retrieve the package of cheese they had been examining.

"Yeah, yeah" She muttered, but he could hear the smile creeping into her voice that he was already forgiven.

"So what has got you two so enraptured that two great _warriors_ like yourself were taking so easily by surprise?" He said the word warriors softly so as not to alarm those around them.

"Mina's all hyped up about this new dairy diet." Mal said disgustedly, rolling his eyes. He preferred to stick to one regimen but his wife like to change things up, always trying something new. The truth was, she didn't have his discipline and therefore was always falling off the wagon of whatever muscle building kick they were on.

"Yeah, get this Dar, you get to have all the milk and cheese you want" She began excitedly, warming up to her favorite new topic. "The only thing is you cant-"

"No offense Mina" Darien interrupted, "I'm actually looking for Bunny, I heard she was in here shopping and was trying to locate her when I came across you two." Now that he had his fun, he was a little desperate to get away before she really got started.

"Oh! Sure, I just saw her in the dessert area!" Mina offered, glad to be of help. Darien left quickly before he was detained any further.

"Wait till he sees her shopping cart!" giggled Mina.

Mal took the cheese package from her and tossed it in the handcart. "Yeah, he's in for a surprise." He agreed, as the two meandered over to the egg cartons. "Now what does your diet say about scrambled eggs?" He asked hopefully. It was his favorite guilty pleasure.

"Nope, that's what I was just going to tell Dar, the only thing you can't have is eggs." She leaned her head on his shoulder briefly. "Sorry babe."

"Well if egg's are off the menu, then I have to think that chocolate chips are too." He said firmly, reaching into their handcart to remove the offending item.

"Wait, wait, Waaait!" She put her hand over his, stilling his movements. "Let's not be so hasty…maybe we can negotiate." She murmured, her pleading eyes meeting his shrewd ones.

xoxoxo

Darien walked slowly, painstakingly checking every aisle, looking for his long lost love. He had seen everyone but the one he wanted most. Well, he corrected himself; he hadn't seen Neph or Mako-

"Darien!" An enthusiastic voice called, and he sweat dropped at the sight of the very couple he had just been crossing off his list.

"Hey you two" He said, jogging over to them, not wanting to be rude but wanting to make this quick. For all he knew, Serena could have left by now.

"Guess she sent you back to get something she forgot, huh?" Asked Makoto, mildly curious.

"Something like that." He answered vaguely, "So what are you two doing here? I didn't think you guys shopped in the grocery store very often." Since Neph and Makoto owned a restaurant together, they tended to shop in bulk, often at the local Costco markets.

"Well, my sweetie forgot a particular spice she needs for a dish she's bringing tomorrow." Neph answered. "What time are we supposed to be there again?" He asked, indicating the dinner plans for the following evening.

"Um, around 7:30" Darien said, guessing. "Listen I hate to be rude but I gotta go find my wife before she escapes." He said urgently.

"She's in the frozen food section, last I saw." Makoto told him, yelling at his retreating back, "See you tomorrow!"

Darien waved his hand to indicate he heard.

Makoto she turned to Neph. "I thought Serena said to be there at 6:00" She said, perplexed. "Oh well, that will give us more time to relax I guess!"

xoxoxo

As Darien rounded the corner sharply he almost bowled down the same elderly couple from earlier. He apologized briefly and disappeared.

"Maniac!" The man yelled at his retreating back, shaking his cane in agitation.

Skidding to a stop in the frozen food aisle, Darien pin wheeled his arms to gain his balance, ignoring the laughter of a teenager nearby. After carefully surveying the area, he still didn't see her, and in frustration began to stalk in the direction of the front counter. He was going to feel like a fool for having his wife paged, especially when all his friends were in the store, but he didn't see any other option, he _had_ to find her.

As he neared the help desk counter, he heard the familiar sound of tinkling laughter and his head shot up. That was his Bunny's laugh, he would know it anywhere. He headed in the direction it had come from, and realized she was standing in the checkout line.

He could only see the top of her head since she was short, and the candy counter had lots of signs and items stacked on it. "Bunny!" He called loudly, hurrying towards her.

"Darien!" She beamed happily, thrilled to see him. "What are you doing here?"

He neared the counter, just as the same couple he had been encountering all day pushed their cart up behind her, blocking him from getting to her. "Excuse me, sorry about that" He said turning sideways and edging by, not realizing it was the same couple he had been encountering all over the store. He just wanted to get to his wife.

"Unbelievable!" Said the grouchy old man. "Can you believe it?" He wanted to know. His wife just shrugged.

Serena turned to watch his progress, as he finally scooted up next to her. He reached down to hug her, and give her a quick kiss. "Sorry" He said, when he accidentally jostled her belly. He reached out to stroke it in apology. His precious daughter was encased in that belly, and he leaned over his very pregnant wife's body to plant a kiss on her stomach.

"Bunny, I am so sorry about being gone so long, one thing turned into another..." He said, panting and a little out of breath.

"Oh, it's ok sweetie!" She comforted him, sliding her hands up and down his back to relax him. "I figured I was close by and would just go ahead and pop in to get what I needed."

He was dreading looking in the cart, he had purposefully avoided it till now. But the Prince of Earth was no coward, he had braved worse (he hoped) and steeling himself, he turned to view her grocery cart.

It was full, literally _full_ to the edges of cartons and cartons of ice cream. Briers Cherry's and Vanilla ice cream. There had to be 40 cartons, he guesstimated desperately. At almost five bucks a pop, this was going to cost him a small fortune, not to mention where they would put it. Both the freezer upstairs, as well as the 2nd one in the basement were already full!

"Oh, don't worry Darien!" Chirruped his sweet wife, always thinking of him. "I got your favorite kind too!" She gestured to the lone carton of chocolate, lying upside down on it's lid, as though in shame.

The cashier-Bill, a longtime employee began scanning her purchases, he and Serena chatting amicably. After all she shopped here often and knew everyone's name and life story. Darien helplessly watched the total skyrocket from 50, to 80 and then pass 100 still continuing to rise. Bill totaled the sale, and Darien handed over his credit card, silently kissing 194 bucks goodbye. Serena pushed the cart out, telling him she would meet him outside at the car.

"Don't worry" Bill confided, "My wife went a little crazy with her cravings too, when she got pregnant."

"Did you ever have to buy her forty-three cartons of ice cream?" Darien asked bleakly, already knowing the answer.

"Well…no…" He answered honestly. Then decided it was best to keep his mouth shut and gave Darien the receipt, optimistically wishing him a good evening.

Bill then turned to greet the elderly couple, regulars whom he had known for years.

xoxoxo

Shortly after, as the two-both in their late 70's-wheeled their squeaky cart out to their ancient Lincoln, the older gentleman kept his eyes peeled for the brash young man who had been harassing them the whole afternoon.

"Bertha, look" He said suddenly, cackling at the sight he beheld.

"What is it sweetheart?" She asked attentively, looking around to see what was amusing him so.

"Just look over there!" He said, pointing to a pink Camry. He was still enjoying himself immensely.

"Oh Hal, there's that lovely girl." Responded the sweet old woman, waving to a beaming Serena who waved back.

But Hal's attention was riveted to the sight of Darien, shoveling carton after carton of sticky, melting ice cream into the trunk, his expression pained.

'Finally', he grinned with satisfaction, 'Finally that boy got his 'Just Desserts!'

xxxxxxxxxxx

Finito!


End file.
